MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Northwestern women's lacrosse team traveled to Augsburg on Friday night to take on the Auggies in a MWLC contest. The Eagles offense exploded for 22 goals to defeat the Auggies and improve to 3-2 in conference play.
Samantha Wiebold (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) put the Eagles up 2-0 early with a pair of goals in the first quarter. The Auggies followed with their first of the game to cut UNW's lead in half, but Northwestern answered by scoring five in-a-row over a six-minute stretch. Augsburg scored once more in the opening frame but the Eagles took a 7-2 lead into the second quarter.
Up by five 15 minutes into the contest, the Eagles scored thrice more to open the second quarter. The Auggies answered right back with a three-goal run of their own to keep within five goals at 10-5. The Eagles increased their lead to seven by the end of the half with a pair of goals in the final three minutes.
After controlling the first half, Northwestern didn't pump the brakes in the second. Two more Eagle goals opened the third quarter, though an Auggie goal followed to cut into the lead. Again, UNW answered one with many by scoring three consecutive to go up 17-6. Both teams would score once more in the third to send the match to the final quarter with UNW leading Augsburg 18-7.
After nine goals in the first, eight in the second, and 8 in the third, the fourth quarter saw five goals scored between the two teams. Northwestern scored four of those five. The offensive explosion for the Eagles powered Northwestern to a 22-8 conference road win over Augsburg.
Wiebold led the offensive onslaught with a single-game career-high seven goals and added an assist for eight points.
Ava Whitcomb (Otsego, Minn./Rogers) followed on the stat sheet with four goals and two assists for six points.
Cara Smith (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) and
Talia Gruthusen (Dryer, Ind./Lake Central) each netted a hat trick.
Defensively, Smith and Gruthusen led UNW with four caused turnovers each. Gruthusen's six ground balls was a game high. In goal,
Brittany Clark (Shell Lake, Wis./) saved four shots.
Next up for Northwestern is their regular season finale at 4:00 P.M. this Saturday, April 30, against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at Reynolds Field.
